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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Today I had planned a post on snacking with Thrive foods, but as I opened up WordPress, I was greeted by a post on food waste.

“One category stood out as being accurate and useful—the dead waste. These are not spending decisions, but rather mistakes. The parking ticket, the bank fee, and yes-the food we let rot. Almost everyone in the United States does this to one extent or another. Nobody likes it, and everyone finds themselves annoyed and a little guilty and embarrassed when it happens. So why do we do it?”

The author goes on to give reasons for food waste. You can read the rest of the article here.

This really got me to thinking.

One of the major reasons I started using Thrive foods is to save money and stop food waste.

When it comes to food waste, many of us have the best of intentions. We buy fresh fruits and veggies, hoping to use them. We buy in bulk to save a bit of cash. We save all those left-overs hoping to eat them and save a bit of cash. No one WANTS to waste food. We all feel a bit of guilt about it. After all, many people are in fact starving. And all that food is wasted money!

Here is an embarrassing bit. A sneak Peek at my fridge before Shelf Reliance and Thrive.

My fridge was full of good intentions, crammed full left overs. Everything had its own Tupperware dish.

We have extended family living with us. It seems there is always either too much food or not enough. So with each meal, a little dish of leftovers is added to the over crowded fridge. We forget about the left overs and before you know it, we have mold soup adding to the problem of food waste.

We like to buy in bulk, and make as few trips to the grocery store as possible, so we use to buy a great deal of produce with the intention of eating healthier. With out fail, when I would reach into the fridge to get that “fresh” produce for a delicious recipe, it had spoiled. And we were adding to more food waste.

But *HOW* do we reduce food waste. Obviously ‘eat your left overs’ and ‘plan your shopping trips’ just isn’t enough!

The How is Shelf Stable foods that can be measured out in usable portions.

For example, With Thrive, you only use what you need. And the rest is stored in the cupboard for up to a year until you are ready to use it again. No more throwing out freezer burned fruits and meats. No more left over veggies from dinner growing mold in the fridge. Use only what you need.

Taco TVP is a BIG hit in my house. Because of the dynamic of our house hold, sometimes its hard to know just how many will be eating dinner at home on any given night. With Thrive, I can easily reconstitute just enough Taco TVP for those I know will be eating at home. If more come in, I easily reconstitute a few more serving without any food waste. (And it only takes about 5 min! I really love that!!)

Because Thrive foods are designed to be shelf stable, you can open a can of corn today, use what you need, and go back to that can a year later and use only what you need once again!

Thrive foods are convenient, easy, fresh, shelf stable, and are truly an easy way to cut back on food waste.

What could your family do with an extra $600 a year saved just by limiting food waste?

~ Go to TawnysThrivingHome.com to shop products and get the best deals on food storage and emergency preparation products.~

Today I had planned a post on snacking with Thrive foods, but as I opened up WordPress, I was greeted by a post on food waste.

"One category stood out as being accurate and useful—the dead waste. These are not spending decisions, but rather mistakes. The parking ticket, the bank fee, and yes-the food we let rot. Almost everyone in the United States does this to one extent or another. Nobody likes it, and everyone finds themselves annoyed and a little guilty and embarrassed when it happens. So why do we do it?"

The author goes on to give reasons for food waste. You can read the rest of the article here.

This really got me to thinking.

One of the major reasons I started using Thrive foods is to save money and stop food waste.

When it comes to food waste, many of us have the best of intentions. We buy fresh fruits and veggies, hoping to use them. We buy in bulk to save a bit of cash. We save all those left-overs hoping to eat them and save a bit of cash. No one WANTS to waste food. We all feel a bit of guilt about it. After all, many people are in fact starving. And all that food is wasted money!

Here is an embarrassing bit. A sneak Peek at my fridge before Shelf Reliance and Thrive.

My fridge was full of good intentions, crammed full left overs. Everything had its own Tupperware dish.

We have extended family living with us. It seems there is always either too much food or not enough. So with each meal, a little dish of leftovers is added to the over crowded fridge. We forget about the left overs and before you know it, we have mold soup adding to the problem of food waste.

We like to buy in bulk, and make as few trips to the grocery store as possible, so we use to buy a great deal of produce with the intention of eating healthier. With out fail, when I would reach into the fridge to get that "fresh" produce for a delicious recipe, it had spoiled. And we were adding to more food waste.

But *HOW* do we reduce food waste. Obviously 'eat your left overs' and 'plan your shopping trips' just isn't enough!

The How is Shelf Stable foods that can be measured out in usable portions.

For example, With Thrive, you only use what you need. And the rest is stored in the cupboard for up to a year until you are ready to use it again. No more throwing out freezer burned fruits and meats. No more left over veggies from dinner growing mold in the fridge. Use only what you need.

Taco TVP is a BIG hit in my house. Because of the dynamic of our house hold, sometimes its hard to know just how many will be eating dinner at home on any given night. With Thrive, I can easily reconstitute just enough Taco TVP for those I know will be eating at home. If more come in, I easily reconstitute a few more serving without any food waste. (And it only takes about 5 min! I really love that!!)

Because Thrive foods are designed to be shelf stable, you can open a can of corn today, use what you need, and go back to that can a year later and use only what you need once again!

Thrive foods are convenient, easy, fresh, shelf stable, and are truly an easy way to cut back on food waste.

What could your family do with an extra $600 a year saved just by limiting food waste?

~ Go to TawnysThrivingHome.com to shop products and get the best deals on food storage and emergency preparation products.~

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Around here, heart health is a number one concern. Because of this, we attempt to eat lots of Mediterranean Foods as they tend to be very heart healthy. We loosely follow the "Red Wine Diet".

In any healthy diet, Veggies are a substantial portion of your food needs.

We are always looking for creative and new ways to serve our veggies. One of our favorite recipes is Classic Greek Spinach. I decided to make this yummy and nutritious dish using items from my food storage, or Home Store.

~*Classic Greek Spinach From Your Pantry*~

For this recipe You will need:

2 tbs - 1c Olive Oil

1c Rice

1 can Stewed Tomatoes

1 1/2 c Thrive Spinach

4 tbs Thrive Onions

2 tbs Thrive Bell Peppers

1 Beef Bullion Cube

4 c water

1 tbs Garlic (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

Place spinach and water into bowl. Cover with water and allow to soak for at least 5 Min.While spinach is reconstituting, pour 2 tbs - 1 c Olive Oil into pot. (Adjust oil to your family's need and taste. Use more oil if you are planning on serving this as a main dish, or on a day you are not serving meat.) Over low heat, add onions, peppers, & optionally garlic to oil. Stir. When flavors have infused with oil, add spinach and water to pot. You may need to add a little extra water. The water needs to cover the spinach.Add bullion cube. Mix ingredients well. Bring to boil. When water is boiling, add rice. Cook until rice is tender. Remove from heat. Empty one can Stewed Tomatoes into pot. Salt and pepper to taste. Return to low heat and allow to simmer 5-10 min. Serve warm.

My family loves this dish! Even those who aren't fans of spinach! The olive oil is a wonderful source of Omega 3 and healthy fats. Spinach is a "super food" and using the Thrive Freeze Dried spinach means we get the same nutrition as using fresh spinach! Tomatoes are an incredibly nutritious food and add an interesting flavor to this dish. And using stewed tomatoes makes this recipe both easy and food storage friendly. The rice adds a great color and texture to the dish. You can also use whole grain rice or brown rice depending on your family's preferences.

Happy Eating!!

~ Go to TawnysThrivingHome.com to shop products and get the best deals on food storage and emergency preparation products.~

Over at Life in a Shoe, Kim is hosting a Linky for Bean recipes. Why? She, like many of us, is becoming increasingly aware of the rise in food cost. The grocery budget just doesn’t seem to go as far as it use to. And, the sad news is, food cost are NOT expected to go down anytime soon.

I didn’t start this post to complain about the economy. I just want to keep the food budget under control, and I want to do it without resorting to ramen noodles, so we’re going to eat less meat, more beans and learn to use lentils.

So, what are we to do? Learn from our grandmothers and great-grandmothers. These ladies fed a family and providing comforting meals on near nothing! Don’t believe me? Take a look at how little people had to eat during War Time Rationing. We need to remember back to a similarly less prosperous time, and learn from out history. We have to remember how to keep our family comfortable and be frugal.

One suggestion Kim made was to eat less meat and more beans. Beans are easy, nutritious, cheap, and have a LONG shelf life. Beans are one of those foods you want to know several recipes for.

I love my cowboy bean recipe. You can easily use it as you "go-to" bean recipe and change it and adjust is according to what you have on hand. I sometimes use sausage. Sometimes beef. I've been known to throw in a can of Rotel or stewed tomatoes. It's a very workable recipe.

Thrive foods carries a line of “Instant Beans”. These beans are ready to go and can be cooked in less than 20 min!! What a time saver! Thrive also carried a full line of dried beans ready to stock up in your pantry. Beans are a great addition to the home store, especially when you are on a budget!

And when you are looking to save money on your food budget, cutting down on the amount of meat you eat is a great way to cut cost. Why not try a cost-effective vegetable protein instead? Taco TVP and beans make for a very cheap and very affordable and super healthy meal!

Bring THRIVE beans to boil in 6c warm water. Add peppers, onion, and garlic. Allow to simmer for 15-20 min. Reconstitute Taco TVP by placing in a bowl and covering with water, allow to sit for 5-10min or until TVP doubles in quantity. Mix TVP into beans. Season to taste.

From experience, I can tell you, farming eats up a LOT of fuel. I have been wondering myself lately, 'How long will we be able to continue farming with these fuel prices?'.

Thankfully, Many farmers are choosing to look into alternate means. Such as these farmers and their oxen. Many may also turn to draft horses.

With this change in farming practices, we can expect to see a shift in the ways our food is supplied. Foods will need to be farmed on a smaller scale and more locally. This may mean more eating "in season". This also means a great flux in prices based on supply and demand. For example, during a dryer year, their will be less of certain crops, driving up the price. And off-season crops will be near impossible to come by.

The other alternative, is to continue with larger scale farming practices using fossil fuels. With this option, as the price of fuel goes up, so will the price of foods. great amounts of fuel is uses in the production and shipping of products that are not grown locally or in-season.

In any case, now is the opportune time to be investing in food. Our world is changing. We need to be prepared. It is time to start becoming more self-reliant. What will your family do if the leading national supplier of tomatoes stopped producing nationally and only supplied on a small scale to their local areas? What if the price of tomatoes sky rocketed and you could no longer get tomato paste for all your quick recipes? What if winter brought a spike in egg prices making them hard to come by? What if milk became a luxury your family couldn't afford? Invest in these foods now, and you will have them later.

We all have a tendency to take our food supply for granted. None of us remember a time our grandparents knew, when food was hard to come by.

Now is the time to prepare for your family. Stock up on shelf stable foods. Have emergency supplies on hand. Use coupons to allow you to stock up on necessities like toothpaste, toilet paper, and first-aid supplies. Become familiar with recipes that can be cooked using shelf stable ingredients. Start a "Home Store Binder" and include everything you need to prepare your family. Keep check list of what is in your home store, supplies you need, emergency information, survival articles, recipes, canning guides, and more in your binder for easy reference.

Become Prepared.

As my dear friend always says "If my kids have to stand in line to get food from the government, I feel like I have failed them."

~ Go to TawnysThrivingHome.com to shop products and get the best deals on food storage and emergency preparation products.~

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

* What if there was an easy way to create your own “Home Store”, so that you didn’t have to run to town just because you ran out of milk or eggs.

* What if your store carried fruits and vegetables that were already washed and chopped?

* What if great tasting fruit like peaches and black berries were always in season at your store?

* What if you didn’t have to worry about salmonella making the price of eggs and spinach sky-rocket?

* What if I told you that this is all possible and much easier than you think and you can start stocking your “home store” without increasing your monthly food budget?

There is!

Welcome to the wonderful world of

&&

Welcome!! I know you will LOVE Shelf Reliance & Thrive! My family certainly does! I am excited you are here! And very excited to share Thrive & The Home Store with you and your family.

Thrive Products and your Home Store are going to save you time and money! You will spend less time shopping, preparing, and cooking foods, and More time with your family & doing the things you love. You might even say it helps achieve those “Less Martha, More Mary” goals.

Not only will your Home Store saves you time and money, but it is also you families “food insurance”. We all have car insurance because you “never know”. And you never know when prices may sky-rocket, you may experience a loss of income, or a disaster may occur. Having shelf stable foods on hand insures that your family is will prepared for what ever may come!

To Get Started:

You may notice some the search bar at the top of the page. Feel welcome to search my blog and find the answers you need. The “cloud” to the right very helpful in finding popular post topics. There is also a topic list to the right, such as food storage 101. You will notice lots of tabs and buttons. Please, feel free to click-a-way and read all you’d like, and comment and let me know what you think!!

If you have any questions, PLEASE, feel free to contact me! I’d be happy to help!

Monday, May 16, 2011

We got a little sun... Ok A LOT of sun... and met some really awesome folks! We listened to some amazing blue grass, ate some delicious BBQ and told everyone about Thrive & Shelf Reliance. We baked lots of goodies and donated everything to the benefit. Nothing quite like a good time for a good cause!

Coffee Creek is so beautiful! And everyone there was so nice! We hope to be doing lots of events with these great folks!

For the benefit I baked several types of cookies. All using Thrive ingredients. We also made some yummy homemade granola!

Want the Recipe for some of those yummy cookies? I'm posting one below! For the other recipes be sure to subscribe to my blog. I'll be posting the recipes throughout the week.

Instructions

* Prepare the batch of brownies and place in oven to bake.

* Whip up a chocolate buttercream frosting by mixing butter, milk, and chocolate on high speed. Add powdered sugar slowly to reach the right consistency, followed by salt. Mix well. (If needed, add more milk to thin out, more powdered sugar to thicken, and more cocoa powder to increase the chocolate flavor.)

* Remove brownies from oven and cool. Top with prepared frosting.

* Take frosted brownies and use an ice cream scoop with a release handle to create little lollipop balls (see included picture). The frosting will act like a glue, keeping it all together.

* Place balled brownies on a wax-paper- or parchment-lined baking sheet. Poke a popsicle stick or other handle into each lollipop and freeze for 30 minutes.

Call me old-fashion, but, I am not one who likes to be "told" how to care for my family.

I am a big advocate for families researching their options and making the decision they feel is best. I don't always agree with others decisions, but at least the decision is theirs to make.

This holds especially true for me when it comes to the wonderful world of food and nutrition.

This article was of particular interest to me, and I felt it might be interesting to you as well.

FDA conducts armed sting on Amish farmer for selling milk.

A group of more than 1000 DC and Maryland consumers are irate at the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) attempt to shut down their food supply by conducting a sting operation of their private buying club.

Members of the private group contract with an Amish farmer in Pennsylvania to obtain fresh milk and other products from his farm. The FDA planted a spy in the group in October of 2009 to gather evidence against the farmer, for alleged illegal interstate commerce of raw milk.

Claiming that transportation of raw milk across state lines constitutes illegal interstate commerce, the FDA conducted many sting operations and raids against US farmers, providing consumers with fresh milk or fresh milk products.

Government and other control of our food system is a very real thing. We often take the flow of food to our grocery store and homes for granted. We feel we have a "right" to choose the foods we feed to our family. But the fact of the matter is this is just not true.

A well stocked pantry and Home Store insures you can provide your family with fresh and healthy foods, even if the food supply is changed by one force or another. It is your food insurance.

With the recent Tornadoes, Wildfires, and other disaster occurring around the country, many are asking the question "How Can We Help?".

One of the greatest needs during a disaster is Food.

And food banks QUICKLY become depleted or the foods they have expire. The VERY BEST thing you can donate when it comes to food is SHELF STABLE foods.

Most Thrive foods have a 25 year shelf life, making them incredibly shelf stable.

Food is one of our comforts. During a hard period, little makes us feel as well as a good home cooked meal. Thrive foods taste great and are easy to prepare.

Keeping a home store, enables you to have shelf stable foods on hand to donate to local food banks or causes. You can also purchase Thrive products directly from my website and have them sent to the families or organizations in need.

During a time of need the second most common need is Money.

Thrive donates 5% of the profit from Thrive foods to their Charity: Thriving nations.

Thrive products are very economical, allowing many families to donate both food and money. Also, by maintaining a home store, you can make tangible donations without cutting into your budget. This also allows for more giving of financial funds when possible.

Also, for many causes, if you contact me ahead of time, I happy to donate a portion of my profits of the supplies purchased from my website for donation, to your cause. This allows you to make a tangible donation of shelf stable foods that are both tasty and nutritious, and know that the purchase of the products will generate funds to be donated to the cause.

Others Ways To Help

How many times have you heard of a young mother on bed rest, or a family who lost a loved one and wanted to help? Many times you'd like to provide the family with a tasty and comforting meal. However, you don't have the meat, produce, or time to prepare the meal. And you certainly can't tap into your budget for another trip to the grocery store. With a Well stocked Home Store, you have healthy, nutritious, easy to prepare foods on stock and on hand at all times. So cooking an extra meal or two is no problem at all.

A Home Store and Thrive Foods Allow for many ministry opportunities!

You Might could say its

"Less Martha, and More Mary"

~ Go to TawnysThrivingHome.com to shop products and get the best deals on food storage and emergency preparation products.~

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About Me

I'm a simple girl interested in all things home! Homesteading, homemaking. I have an in-Home daycare & tutor homeschool students.
But Best of all I am a consultant with Shelf Reliance and Thrive foods. I can help you create your HOME STORE and save you time and money on your grocery budget!